Black Hills
Encyclopedia
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range
rising from the Great Plains
of North America
in western South Dakota
and extending into Wyoming
, USA
. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains
, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of trees in a sea of grass". Harney Peak
, which rises to 7244 feet (2,208 m), is the range's highest summit. The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest
and are home to the tallest peaks of continental North America east of the Rockies.
The name "Black Hills" is a translation of the Lakota
Pahá Sápa. The hills were so-called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they were covered in trees.
Native Americans have a long history in the Black Hills. After conquering the Cheyenne
in 1776, the Lakota took over the territory of the Black Hills, which became central to their culture. In 1868, the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever. However, when European Americans discovered gold
there in 1874, as a result of George Armstrong Custer
's Black Hills Expedition, erstwhile miners swept into the area in a gold rush
. The US government re-assigned the Lakota, against their wishes, to other reservations in western South Dakota. Unlike most of South Dakota, the Black Hills were settled by European Americans primarily from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana.
As the economy of the Black Hills has shifted from natural resources (mining and timber), the hospitality and tourism industry has grown to take its place. Locals tend to divide the Black Hills into two areas: "The Southern Hills" and "The Northern Hills". The Southern Hills is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park
, Jewel Cave National Monument
, Harney Peak
(the highest point east of the Rockies), Custer State Park
(the largest state park in South Dakota, and one of the largest in the US), the Crazy Horse Memorial
(the largest sculpture in the world), and The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, the world’’s largest mammoth research facility. Attractions in the Northern Hills include historic Deadwood
and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
, held each August. The first Rally was held on August 14, 1938 and the 65th Rally in 2005 saw more than 550,000 bikers visit the Black Hills. It is a key part of the regional economy. Motorcycle riders are also attracted to the Black Hills simply for the many miles of awe-inspiring scenery.. While not in South Dakota, the Devils Tower National Monument
located in the Wyoming Black Hills is an important nearby attraction. Devils Tower is the nation’s first national monument
have inhabited the area since at least 7000 BC. The Arikara
arrived by 1500 AD, followed by the Cheyenne
, Crow
, Kiowa
and Pawnee. The Lakota (also known as Sioux
) arrived from Minnesota
in the eighteenth century and drove out the other tribes, who moved west. They claimed the land, which they called HeSapa (Black Mountains). The mountains commonly became known as the Black Hills.
The first European explorers to see the Black Hills were probably the French explorers François
and Louis de La Vérendrye
in 1743, but it was not until 1823 that Jedediah Smith
traveled through them. After the public discovery of gold
in the 1870s, European Americans increasingly encroached on Lakota territory. The conflict over control of the region sparked the Black Hills War, the last major Indian War
on the Great Plains. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie
had previously confirmed the Lakota's ownership of the Teton Sioux mountain range. Both the Sioux and Cheyenne claimed rights to the land, saying that in their cultures, it was considered the axis mundi
, or sacred center of the world.
Although rumors of gold
in the Black Hills had circulated for decades (see Thoen Stone and Pierre-Jean De Smet
), it was not until 1874 that Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer
of the 7th US Cavalry led an expedition there and discovered gold in French Creek
. An official announcement of gold was made by the newspaper reporters accompanying the expedition. The following year, the Newton-Jenney Party
conducted the first detailed survey of the Black Hills. The surveyor for the party, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy
, was the first European American to ascend to the top of Harney Peak
. This highest point in the Black Hills is 7242 feet above sea level.
During the 1875–1878 gold rush
, thousands of miners went to the Black Hills; in 1880, the area was the most densely populated part of Dakota Territory
. There were three large towns in the Northern Hills: Deadwood
, Central City
, and Lead
. Around these were groups of smaller gold camps, towns, and villages. Hill City
and Custer City
sprang up in the Southern Hills. Railroads were quickly constructed to the previously remote area. From 1880 on, the gold mines yielded about $4,000,000 annually, and the silver mines about $3,000,000 annually.
Following the defeat of the Lakota and their Cheyenne
and Arapaho
allies in 1876, the United States took control of the region, in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Lakota never accepted the validity of the US appropriation. They continue to try to reclaim the property.
On July 23, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
, the Supreme Court of the United States
ruled that the Black Hills were illegally taken and that remuneration of the initial offering price plus interest — nearly $106 million — be paid. The Lakota refused the settlement as they wanted the Black Hills returned to them. The money remains in an interest-bearing account, which now amounts to over $757 million, but the Lakota still refuse to take the money. They believe that accepting the settlement would validate the US theft of their most sacred land.
The geology
of the Black Hills is complex. A Tertiary
mountain-building episode is responsible for the uplift and current topography
of the Black Hills region. This uplift was marked by volcanic
activity in the northern Black Hills. The southern Black Hills are characterized by Precambrian
granite
, pegmatite
, and metamorphic
rocks that comprise the core of the entire Black Hills uplift. This core is rimmed by Paleozoic
, Mesozoic
, and Cenozoic
sedimentary rocks. The stratigraphy
of the Black Hills is laid out like a target, as it is an oval dome
, with rings of different rock types dipping
away from the center.
The 'bulls eye' of this target is called the granite
core. The granite of the Black Hills was emplaced by magma
generated during the Trans-Hudson orogeny
and contains abundant pegmatite. The core of the Black Hills has been dated
to 1.8 billion years. There are other localized deposits that have been dated to around 2.2 to 2.8 billion years. One of these is located in the northern hills. It is called Elk Creek Granite although it has been metamorphosed into gneiss
. The other is called the Bear Mountain complex, and it is located in the west central part of the hills.
Making a concentric ring around the core is the metamorphic
zone. The rocks in this ring are all very old, as much as 2.0 billion years and older. This zone is very complex, filled with many diverse rock types. The rocks were originally sedimentary, until there was a collision between the North American continent and a terrane
. This collision, called the Trans-Hudson Orogeny, caused the original rocks to fold and twist into a vast mountain range. Over the millions of years, these tilted rocks, which in many areas are tilted to 90 degrees or more, eroded. Today we see the evidence of this erosion in the Black Hills, where the metamorphic rocks end in an angular unconformity
below the younger sedimentary layers.
and was the original source of gold
found in the Deadwood
area. Above the Deadwood Formation lies the Englewood Formation and Pahasapa limestone
, which is the source of the more than 200 caves found in the Black Hills, including Jewel Cave and Wind Cave. The Minnelusa Formation is next and is composed of highly variable sandstones and limestones followed by the Opeche shale
and the Minnekahta limestone.
with beds of gypsum
, and circles much of the Black Hills. These shale and gypsum beds as well as the nearby limestone
beds of the Minnikata are used in the manufacture of cement
at a cement plant in Rapid City
. Next is the shale and sandstone Sundance Formation
, which is topped by the Morrison Formation
and the Unkpapa sandstone.
The outermost feature of the dome stands out as a hogback ridge
. The ridge is made out of the Lakota Formation and the Fallriver sandstone, which are collectively called the Inyan Kara Group. Above this, the layers of rocks are less distinct and are all mainly grey shale with three exceptions: the Newcastle sandstone; the Greenhorn limestone, which contains many shark teeth fossil
s; and the Niobrara Formation, which is composed mainly of chalk
. These outer ridges are called cuesta
s.
The preceding layers
were deposited in a horizontal manner. All of them can be seen in core samples and well logs from the flatest parts of the Great Plains
. It took a period of uplift
to bring them to their present topographical levels in the Black Hills. This uplift called the Laramide orogeny
began around the beginning of the Cenozoic
and left a line of igneous rocks through the northern hills superimposed on the rocks already discussed. This line extends from Bear Butte
in the east to Devils Tower
in the west. Evidence of Cenozoic volcanic eruptions, if this happened, has long since been eroded away.
The Black Hills also have a 'skirt' of gravel
covering them in areas, which are called erosional terraces. Formed as the waterways cut down into the uplifting hills, they represent the former locations of today's rivers. These beds are generally around 10,000 years old or younger, judging by the artifacts and fossils found. A few places, mainly in the high elevations, are older, as old as 20 million years, according to camel and rodent fossils found. Some gravels have been found but for the most part, these older beds have been eroded away.
forest, with Black Hills Spruce
(Picea glauca var. densata) occurring in cool moist valleys of the Northern Hills. Oddly, this endemic variety of spruce does not occur in the moist Bear Lodge Mountains, which make up most of the Wyoming portion of the Black Hills. Large open parks (mountain meadows) with lush grassland rather than forest are scattered through the Hills (especially the western portion), and the southern edge of the Hills, due to the rainshadow of the higher elevations, are covered by a dry pine savannah
, with stands of Mountain Mahogany and Rocky Mountain Juniper. Wildlife is both diverse and plentiful. Black Hills creeks are known for their trout, while the forests and grasslands offer good habitat for American Bison
, White-tailed and Mule Deer
, Pronghorn
, Bighorn Sheep
, mountain lions, and a variety of smaller animals, like prairie dogs, Yellow-bellied Marmot
s, and Fox Squirrel
s. Biologically, the Black Hills is a meeting and mixing place, with species common to regions to the east, west, north, and south. The Hills do, however, support some endemic taxa, the most famous of which is probably White-winged Junco
(Junco hyemalis aikeni).
The region is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park
, Jewel Cave National Monument
, Harney Peak
(the highest point east of the Rockies), Custer State Park
(the largest state park in South Dakota, and one of the largest in the US), Bear Butte State Park, Devils Tower National Monument
, and the Crazy Horse Memorial
(the largest sculpture in the world). The Black Hills also hosts the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
each August. The Rally was started in 1940 and the 65th Rally in 2005 saw more than 550,000 bikers visit the Black Hills. It is a key part of the regional economy. Motorcycle riders are also attracted to the Black Hills simply for the many miles of awe-inspiring scenery.
The George S. Mickelson Trail
is a recently opened multi-use path through the Black Hills that follows the abandoned track of the historic railroad route from Edgemont
to Deadwood
. The train used to be the only way to bring supplies to the miners in the Hills. The trail is about 110 miles in length, and can be used by hikers, cross-country skiers, and bikers. The cost is two dollars per day, or ten dollars annually.
Today, the major city in the Black Hills is Rapid City
, with an incorporated population of almost 70,000 and a metropolitan population of 125,000. It serves a market area covering much of five states: North and South Dakota
, Nebraska
, Wyoming
, and Montana
. In addition to tourism and mining (including coal, specialty minerals, and the now declining gold mining), the Black Hills economy includes ranching (sheep and cattle, primarily, with bison
and ratites becoming more common), timber (lumber), Ellsworth Air Force Base
, and some manufacturing, including jewelry, cement, electronics, cabinetry, guns and ammunition.
In many ways, the Black Hills functions as a very spread-out urban area with a population (not counting tourists) of 250,000. Other important Black Hills cities and towns include:
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
rising from the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in western South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and extending into Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of trees in a sea of grass". Harney Peak
Harney Peak
Harney Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota. Harney Peak is located within the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, within Black Hills National Forest...
, which rises to 7244 feet (2,208 m), is the range's highest summit. The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota...
and are home to the tallest peaks of continental North America east of the Rockies.
The name "Black Hills" is a translation of the Lakota
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
Pahá Sápa. The hills were so-called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they were covered in trees.
Native Americans have a long history in the Black Hills. After conquering the Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
in 1776, the Lakota took over the territory of the Black Hills, which became central to their culture. In 1868, the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever. However, when European Americans discovered gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
there in 1874, as a result of George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
's Black Hills Expedition, erstwhile miners swept into the area in a gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
. The US government re-assigned the Lakota, against their wishes, to other reservations in western South Dakota. Unlike most of South Dakota, the Black Hills were settled by European Americans primarily from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana.
As the economy of the Black Hills has shifted from natural resources (mining and timber), the hospitality and tourism industry has grown to take its place. Locals tend to divide the Black Hills into two areas: "The Southern Hills" and "The Northern Hills". The Southern Hills is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park is a United States national park north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh U.S. National Park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is...
, Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave National Monument contains Jewel Cave, currently the second longest cave in the world, with just over of mapped passageways. It is located approximately west of the town of Custer in South Dakota's Black Hills...
, Harney Peak
Harney Peak
Harney Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota. Harney Peak is located within the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, within Black Hills National Forest...
(the highest point east of the Rockies), Custer State Park
Custer State Park
Custer State Park is a state park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, USA. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt...
(the largest state park in South Dakota, and one of the largest in the US), the Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse Memorial
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument complex that is under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota. It represents Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Lakota...
(the largest sculpture in the world), and The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, the world’’s largest mammoth research facility. Attractions in the Northern Hills include historic Deadwood
Deadwood
Deadwood may refer to:in geography*Deadwood, Alberta, hamlet in Alberta, Canada*Deadwood, California , several unincorporated communities in California, United States*Deadwood, Oregon, unincorporated community in Oregon, United States...
and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, usually the first full week of August.-History:...
, held each August. The first Rally was held on August 14, 1938 and the 65th Rally in 2005 saw more than 550,000 bikers visit the Black Hills. It is a key part of the regional economy. Motorcycle riders are also attracted to the Black Hills simply for the many miles of awe-inspiring scenery.. While not in South Dakota, the Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...
located in the Wyoming Black Hills is an important nearby attraction. Devils Tower is the nation’s first national monument
History
Native AmericansIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
have inhabited the area since at least 7000 BC. The Arikara
Arikara
Arikara are a group of Native Americans in North Dakota...
arrived by 1500 AD, followed by the Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
, Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
, Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
and Pawnee. The Lakota (also known as Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
) arrived from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in the eighteenth century and drove out the other tribes, who moved west. They claimed the land, which they called HeSapa (Black Mountains). The mountains commonly became known as the Black Hills.
François de La Vérendrye
François de La Vérendrye was the third son of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye. He was born at Sorel, New France in 1715 and was active in his father's trade activities from Fort Kaministiquia to the North Saskatchewan River.In 1738 he was part of his father's expedition to Mandan...
and Louis de La Vérendrye
Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye
Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye was a French Canadian fur trader and explorer who took part in extending these activities westerly from the Great Lakes during the eighteenth century, an enterprise for which he and other members of his family were largely responsible...
in 1743, but it was not until 1823 that Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer, cattleman, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the 19th century...
traveled through them. After the public discovery of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
in the 1870s, European Americans increasingly encroached on Lakota territory. The conflict over control of the region sparked the Black Hills War, the last major Indian War
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
on the Great Plains. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)
The Treaty of Fort Laramie was an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota, and Arapaho Nation signed in 1868 at Fort Laramie in the Wyoming Territory, guaranteeing to the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further...
had previously confirmed the Lakota's ownership of the Teton Sioux mountain range. Both the Sioux and Cheyenne claimed rights to the land, saying that in their cultures, it was considered the axis mundi
Axis mundi
The axis mundi , in religion or mythology, is the world center and/or the connection between heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet...
, or sacred center of the world.
Although rumors of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
in the Black Hills had circulated for decades (see Thoen Stone and Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet , also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus , active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States in the mid-19th century.His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total...
), it was not until 1874 that Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
of the 7th US Cavalry led an expedition there and discovered gold in French Creek
French Creek (South Dakota)
French Creek is an intermittent stream located in the Black Hills region of western South Dakota, USA. It is a tributary of the Cheyenne River....
. An official announcement of gold was made by the newspaper reporters accompanying the expedition. The following year, the Newton-Jenney Party
Newton-Jenney Party
The Newton–Jenney Party of 1875, led by Henry Newton and Walter P. Jenney, and escorted by a military detachment led by Lieutenant Colonel Richard I. Dodge. Also known as the Jenney-Newton Party, it was a scientific expedition sponsored by the United States Geological Survey to map the Black Hills...
conducted the first detailed survey of the Black Hills. The surveyor for the party, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy
Valentine McGillycuddy
Dr. Valentine Trant McGillycuddy was a controversial pioneer of the effort to build a sustainable relationship between the United States and the Native American people. As the surveyor for the Newton-Jenney Party, McGillycuddy was the first known person to climb Harney Peak in the Black Hills of...
, was the first European American to ascend to the top of Harney Peak
Harney Peak
Harney Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota. Harney Peak is located within the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, within Black Hills National Forest...
. This highest point in the Black Hills is 7242 feet above sea level.
During the 1875–1878 gold rush
Black Hills Gold Rush
The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876-77.Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the early 19th century...
, thousands of miners went to the Black Hills; in 1880, the area was the most densely populated part of Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
. There were three large towns in the Northern Hills: Deadwood
Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...
, Central City
Central City, South Dakota
Central City is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 134 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Central City is located at ....
, and Lead
Lead, South Dakota
Lead is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,124 at the 2010 census. Lead is located in western South Dakota, in the Black Hills near the Wyoming state line.-History:...
. Around these were groups of smaller gold camps, towns, and villages. Hill City
Hill City, South Dakota
Hill City is the oldest existing city in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 948 at the 2010 census. Hill City is located southwest of Rapid City on State Highway 16 and on U.S. Route 385 that connects Deadwood to Hot Springs...
and Custer City
Custer, South Dakota
Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,067 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County.-History:...
sprang up in the Southern Hills. Railroads were quickly constructed to the previously remote area. From 1880 on, the gold mines yielded about $4,000,000 annually, and the silver mines about $3,000,000 annually.
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
and Arapaho
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
allies in 1876, the United States took control of the region, in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Lakota never accepted the validity of the US appropriation. They continue to try to reclaim the property.
On July 23, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
In United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, 448 U.S. 371 the Supreme Court of the United States held that: 1) The enactment by Congress of a law allowing the Sioux Nation to pursue a claim against the United States that had been previously adjudicated did not violate the doctrine of separation...
, the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled that the Black Hills were illegally taken and that remuneration of the initial offering price plus interest — nearly $106 million — be paid. The Lakota refused the settlement as they wanted the Black Hills returned to them. The money remains in an interest-bearing account, which now amounts to over $757 million, but the Lakota still refuse to take the money. They believe that accepting the settlement would validate the US theft of their most sacred land.
Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
of the Black Hills is complex. A Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
mountain-building episode is responsible for the uplift and current topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
of the Black Hills region. This uplift was marked by volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
activity in the northern Black Hills. The southern Black Hills are characterized by Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, pegmatite
Pegmatite
A pegmatite is a very crystalline, intrusive igneous rock composed of interlocking crystals usually larger than 2.5 cm in size; such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic....
, and metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
rocks that comprise the core of the entire Black Hills uplift. This core is rimmed by Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
, Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
, and Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
sedimentary rocks. The stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
of the Black Hills is laid out like a target, as it is an oval dome
Dome (geology)
In structural geology, a dome is a deformational feature consisting of symmetrically-dipping anticlines; their general outline on a geologic map is circular or oval...
, with rings of different rock types dipping
Strike and dip
Strike and dip refer to the orientation or attitude of a geologic feature. The strike line of a bed, fault, or other planar feature is a line representing the intersection of that feature with a horizontal plane. On a geologic map, this is represented with a short straight line segment oriented...
away from the center.
Precambrian
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
core. The granite of the Black Hills was emplaced by magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
generated during the Trans-Hudson orogeny
Trans-Hudson orogeny
The Trans-Hudson orogeny, Trans-Hudsonian orogeny, Trans-Hudson orogen , or Trans-Hudson Orogen Transect , , was the major mountain building event that formed the Precambrian Canadian Shield, the North American craton , and the...
and contains abundant pegmatite. The core of the Black Hills has been dated
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
to 1.8 billion years. There are other localized deposits that have been dated to around 2.2 to 2.8 billion years. One of these is located in the northern hills. It is called Elk Creek Granite although it has been metamorphosed into gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
. The other is called the Bear Mountain complex, and it is located in the west central part of the hills.
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
zone. The rocks in this ring are all very old, as much as 2.0 billion years and older. This zone is very complex, filled with many diverse rock types. The rocks were originally sedimentary, until there was a collision between the North American continent and a terrane
Terrane
A terrane in geology is short-hand term for a tectonostratigraphic terrane, which is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate...
. This collision, called the Trans-Hudson Orogeny, caused the original rocks to fold and twist into a vast mountain range. Over the millions of years, these tilted rocks, which in many areas are tilted to 90 degrees or more, eroded. Today we see the evidence of this erosion in the Black Hills, where the metamorphic rocks end in an angular unconformity
Unconformity
An unconformity is a buried erosion surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval of time before deposition of the younger, but the term is used to describe...
below the younger sedimentary layers.
Paleozoic
The final layers of the Black Hills consist of sedimentary rocks. The oldest lie on top of the metamorphic layers at a much shallower angle. This rock called the Deadwood Formation is mostly sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and was the original source of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
found in the Deadwood
Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...
area. Above the Deadwood Formation lies the Englewood Formation and Pahasapa limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, which is the source of the more than 200 caves found in the Black Hills, including Jewel Cave and Wind Cave. The Minnelusa Formation is next and is composed of highly variable sandstones and limestones followed by the Opeche shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and the Minnekahta limestone.
Mesozoic
The next rock layer, the Spearfish Formation, forms a valley around the hills called the Red Valley and is often referred to as the Race Track. It is mostly red shaleShale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
with beds of gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
, and circles much of the Black Hills. These shale and gypsum beds as well as the nearby limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
beds of the Minnikata are used in the manufacture of cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
at a cement plant in Rapid City
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
. Next is the shale and sandstone Sundance Formation
Sundance Formation
The Sundance Formation is a western North American sequence of Upper Jurassic age marine shales, sandy shales, and sandstones.The Sundance Formation underlies the western North American Morrison Formation, the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in the Americas, and is separated by a...
, which is topped by the Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
and the Unkpapa sandstone.
The outermost feature of the dome stands out as a hogback ridge
Hogback (geology)
A hogback is a homoclinal ridge, formed from a monocline, composed of steeply tilted strata of rock protruding from the surrounding area. The name comes from the ridge resembling the high, knobby spine between the shoulders of a hog. In most cases, the two strata that compose a hogback are...
. The ridge is made out of the Lakota Formation and the Fallriver sandstone, which are collectively called the Inyan Kara Group. Above this, the layers of rocks are less distinct and are all mainly grey shale with three exceptions: the Newcastle sandstone; the Greenhorn limestone, which contains many shark teeth fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s; and the Niobrara Formation, which is composed mainly of chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
. These outer ridges are called cuesta
Cuesta
In structural geology and geomorphology, a cuesta is a ridge formed by gently tilted sedimentary rock strata in a homoclinal structure. Cuestas have a steep slope, where the rock layers are exposed on their edges, called an escarpment or, if more steep, a cliff...
s.
Cenozoic
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
were deposited in a horizontal manner. All of them can be seen in core samples and well logs from the flatest parts of the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
. It took a period of uplift
Tectonic uplift
Tectonic uplift is a geological process most often caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. The opposite of uplift is subsidence, which results in a decrease in elevation. Uplift may be orogenic or isostatic.-Orogenic uplift:...
to bring them to their present topographical levels in the Black Hills. This uplift called the Laramide orogeny
Laramide orogeny
The Laramide orogeny was a period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the orogeny are in dispute, as is the cause. The Laramide...
began around the beginning of the Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
and left a line of igneous rocks through the northern hills superimposed on the rocks already discussed. This line extends from Bear Butte
Bear Butte
Bear Butte is a geological butte feature located in western South Dakota, United States, that was established as a State Park in 1961. An important landmark and religious site for the Plains Indians tribes long before Europeans reached South Dakota, Bear Butte is called Mathó Pahá, or Bear...
in the east to Devils Tower
Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...
in the west. Evidence of Cenozoic volcanic eruptions, if this happened, has long since been eroded away.
The Black Hills also have a 'skirt' of gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
covering them in areas, which are called erosional terraces. Formed as the waterways cut down into the uplifting hills, they represent the former locations of today's rivers. These beds are generally around 10,000 years old or younger, judging by the artifacts and fossils found. A few places, mainly in the high elevations, are older, as old as 20 million years, according to camel and rodent fossils found. Some gravels have been found but for the most part, these older beds have been eroded away.
Biosystems
As with the geology, the biology of the Black Hills is complex. Most of the Hills are a fire-climax Ponderosa PinePonderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
forest, with Black Hills Spruce
White Spruce
Picea glauca is a species of spruce native to boreal forests in the north of North America, from central Alaska east to Newfoundland, and south to northern Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine; there is also an isolated population in the...
(Picea glauca var. densata) occurring in cool moist valleys of the Northern Hills. Oddly, this endemic variety of spruce does not occur in the moist Bear Lodge Mountains, which make up most of the Wyoming portion of the Black Hills. Large open parks (mountain meadows) with lush grassland rather than forest are scattered through the Hills (especially the western portion), and the southern edge of the Hills, due to the rainshadow of the higher elevations, are covered by a dry pine savannah
Savannah
Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...
, with stands of Mountain Mahogany and Rocky Mountain Juniper. Wildlife is both diverse and plentiful. Black Hills creeks are known for their trout, while the forests and grasslands offer good habitat for American Bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
, White-tailed and Mule Deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, Pronghorn
Pronghorn
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...
, Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn Sheep
The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...
, mountain lions, and a variety of smaller animals, like prairie dogs, Yellow-bellied Marmot
Yellow-bellied Marmot
The yellow-bellied marmot , also known as the rock chuck, is a ground squirrel in the marmot genus.-Description:...
s, and Fox Squirrel
Fox Squirrel
The fox squirrel is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America...
s. Biologically, the Black Hills is a meeting and mixing place, with species common to regions to the east, west, north, and south. The Hills do, however, support some endemic taxa, the most famous of which is probably White-winged Junco
White-winged Junco
The White-winged Junco is a subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco. It is superficially similar to the Slate-colored Junco. It was formerly classified as a distinct species....
(Junco hyemalis aikeni).
Tourism and economy
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park is a United States national park north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh U.S. National Park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is...
, Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave National Monument contains Jewel Cave, currently the second longest cave in the world, with just over of mapped passageways. It is located approximately west of the town of Custer in South Dakota's Black Hills...
, Harney Peak
Harney Peak
Harney Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota. Harney Peak is located within the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, within Black Hills National Forest...
(the highest point east of the Rockies), Custer State Park
Custer State Park
Custer State Park is a state park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, USA. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt...
(the largest state park in South Dakota, and one of the largest in the US), Bear Butte State Park, Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...
, and the Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse Memorial
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument complex that is under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota. It represents Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Lakota...
(the largest sculpture in the world). The Black Hills also hosts the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, usually the first full week of August.-History:...
each August. The Rally was started in 1940 and the 65th Rally in 2005 saw more than 550,000 bikers visit the Black Hills. It is a key part of the regional economy. Motorcycle riders are also attracted to the Black Hills simply for the many miles of awe-inspiring scenery.
The George S. Mickelson Trail
George S. Mickelson Trail
The George S. Mickelson Trail is a rail trail in the Black Hills region of South Dakota.The main trail route extends , from Edgemont to Deadwood, with approximately nine miles of additional branch trails, including a three mile paved link from Custer to the Custer State Park completed in 2007...
is a recently opened multi-use path through the Black Hills that follows the abandoned track of the historic railroad route from Edgemont
Edgemont, South Dakota
Edgemont is a city in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 774 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Edgemont is located at ....
to Deadwood
Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...
. The train used to be the only way to bring supplies to the miners in the Hills. The trail is about 110 miles in length, and can be used by hikers, cross-country skiers, and bikers. The cost is two dollars per day, or ten dollars annually.
Today, the major city in the Black Hills is Rapid City
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
, with an incorporated population of almost 70,000 and a metropolitan population of 125,000. It serves a market area covering much of five states: North and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. In addition to tourism and mining (including coal, specialty minerals, and the now declining gold mining), the Black Hills economy includes ranching (sheep and cattle, primarily, with bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
and ratites becoming more common), timber (lumber), Ellsworth Air Force Base
Ellsworth Air Force Base
Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota....
, and some manufacturing, including jewelry, cement, electronics, cabinetry, guns and ammunition.
In many ways, the Black Hills functions as a very spread-out urban area with a population (not counting tourists) of 250,000. Other important Black Hills cities and towns include:
- Belle FourcheBelle Fourche, South DakotaAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and is water.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 4,565 people, 1,854 households, and 1,186 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,446.9 people per square mile...
, a ranching town - SpearfishSpearfish, South DakotaSpearfish is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota,United States. The population was 10,494 at the 2010 census.- History :Prior to the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876, the area was used by Native Americans who would spear fish in the creek...
, home of Black Hills State UniversityBlack Hills State UniversityBlack Hills State University, South Dakota's third largest comprehensive public university, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. The campus is located in Spearfish, South Dakota. Close to 5,000 students attend classes at the Spearfish campus, at sites in Rapid City, Pierre, Yankton,... - DeadwoodDeadwood, South DakotaDeadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...
, a historic and well-preserved gambling mecca - LeadLead, South DakotaLead is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,124 at the 2010 census. Lead is located in western South Dakota, in the Black Hills near the Wyoming state line.-History:...
, home of the now-closed Homestake MineHomestake Mine (South Dakota)The Homestake Mine was a deep underground gold mine located in Lead, South Dakota. Until it closed in 2002 it was the largest and deepest gold mine in North America, producing more than 40 million ounces of gold. The Homestake Mine is famous in scientific circles for being the site at which the...
(gold) - KeystoneKeystone, South DakotaKeystone is a town in the Black Hills region of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 337 at the 2010 census. It had its origins in 1883 as a mining town, and has since transformed itself into a resort town, serving the needs of the millions of visitors to Mount...
, outside Mount Rushmore - Hill CityHill City, South DakotaHill City is the oldest existing city in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 948 at the 2010 census. Hill City is located southwest of Rapid City on State Highway 16 and on U.S. Route 385 that connects Deadwood to Hot Springs...
, a timber and tourism town in the center of the Hills - CusterCuster, South DakotaCuster is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,067 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County.-History:...
, a mining and tourism town and headquarters for Black Hills National ForestBlack Hills National ForestBlack Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota... - Hot SpringsHot Springs, South DakotaHot Springs is a city in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,711. It is the county seat of Fall River County...
, an old resort town in the southern Hills - SturgisSturgis, South DakotaSturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,627 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Meade County. Sturgis is famous for being the location of one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world, which is held annually on the first full week...
, originally a military town (Fort Meade, now a VA center, is located just to the east). Now famous for one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world. - NewcastleNewcastle, WyomingNewcastle is a city in and the county seat of Weston County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,065 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Newcastle is located at...
, center of the Black Hills petroleum production and refining.
See also
- Black Hills Gold RushBlack Hills Gold RushThe Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876-77.Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the early 19th century...
- Black Hills Central RailroadBlack Hills Central RailroadThe Black Hills Central Railroad is a heritage railroad that operates in South Dakota.It currently operates the 1880 Train on the former Keystone Branch of the Burlington Northern Railroad between Hill City, South Dakota and Keystone, South Dakota...
- Cypress Hills (Canada)
- Devils Tower National MonumentDevils Tower National MonumentDevils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...
- JoAnn TallJoAnn TallJoAnn Tall is an environmental activist of the Oglala Lakota tribe who has worked to ensure the people have a chance to approve major projects for energy development...
- The NeedlesNeedles (Black Hills)The Needles of the Black Hills of South Dakota are a region of fantastically eroded granite pillars, towers, and spires. Popular with rock climbers and tourists alike, the Needles are accessed from the Needles Highway, which is a part of Sylvan Lake Road...
- Pine Ridge Reservation
- Black Hills Land ClaimBlack Hills Land ClaimThe Black Hills Land Claim is an ongoing land dispute between Native Americans from the Sioux nation and the United States Federal Government.- Geography :...